Two WordPress Ad Manager Options

Once your blog is reigning in some good traffic, one monetization avenue you may want to consider is paid advertising. Depending on your niche and your traffic numbers, advertisers may be willing to pay a good chunk of change for placement on your site. There are several options out there for managing your ads. Here are two WordPress ad managers I have used on my own sites.

WP125 is a WordPress plugin. As the name implies, it is set up for the ever-popular 125×125 banner ads.

Pros

Free

You can set how long an advertiser’s ad run. Advertiser banners will be taken down automatically after the time frame you have set runs out.

It tracks how many times an ad is shown and clicked.

You can run as many ads as you would like, though you are restricted to a one- or two-column space in your sidebar.

A placeholder is available when a slot is empty. This could be an “Your Ad Here” link that leads to your advertising page.

You can opt to receive notifications as an advertiser’s ad time is running out. You can then notify your advertisers to extend their time.

Cons

Much of this is a manual process. Your advertiser contacts you, sends you their image and link, you upload it to your site. You need to generate the invoice for them to pay. You also need to follow-up with advertisers as their time runs out in hopes of extending their ad.

You are limited to 125×125 banner ads in your sidebar. No other options exist here. You are also limited to running WP125 only once. If you have a two-sidebar layout and you would like placements in both, that isn’t an option here.

OIO Publisher is what I am currently running on my blogs. This one has a lot more flexibility in its options, and it allows for a much more automated process.

Pros

Not only can you run the standard 125×125 banner ads, you can also sell banners of other sizes, text ads, in-post links, posts and digital products.

You can easily set all links to nofollow to comply with Google Policy.

You can set up an affiliate program for promoting your advertising.

Reports are available to advertisers to track their results.

You can opt to approve all ads prior to publishing.

The process is rather automated with the exception of approving ads. Advertiser payments go straight to your PayPal account. They are notified automatically when their ad time is running out.

You can sell ads by the day, by the click or by the impression. You can also upsell longer ad packages for a reduced rate. (Ex. 30 days for $20, 180 days for $100, 365 days for $199.)

It also is available as a WordPress Plugin. You can run multiple ad placements on your site as well.

Cons

There is a cost involved. OIO Publisher currently sells for $49. But, that is a one-time fee. It is not a subscription service. You pay once and you are done. They also do not take any cut of sales like 3rd-party sites. Your sales are yours.

The set up can be a little confusing for beginners. There are quite a few options available. Take your time.

My personal preference is OIO Publisher. Every task you can automate the better. This saves a lot of time that can come with the back-and-forth of having to work with your advertisers directly.